according to the manager of shooter shop just outside milwaukee. when you heard about this, what was going through your mind? >> my first reaction was i was hoping we didn't sell him the firearm. >> reporter: he can't say if he was working in the store when page bought the weapon on july 28th or when he picked it up two days later after a background check. he says page likely paid about $700 for a model known as the xdm similar to this one. according to grabowski and officials, it was all on board. as for the occasions when page was in this store, did anything about him strike out at you or the employees here who might have dealt with him? >> he was unremember able. there are two types of people. we remember long standing customers as well as people who rub us the wrong way and then they don't buy a gun here. >> so you do refuse service to people who give you a bad vibe. >> yes, we do.

>> and he didn't? >> no. he wouldn't have purchased a firearm if he did. >> employees tell us that gun is mainly used for target practice and self-defense. a law enforcement official tells us page also bought ammunition at the shooter shop and came down here to use the shop's firing range. he use thd day on july 30th, the same day he picked up the weapon. the assistant manager, eric's brother, demonstrates the fire power of a simila similar .9-millimeter. brian says each magazine holds at least 17 bullets. in the store i asked eric how he feels looking back on this. >> it hurts. i mean, it's not something that i would want, obviously. you know, that community is just -- is in pain. you know, us here at shooter shop -- loss for words, i'm

sorry. you know, i know a year ago this month i lost my daughter. so i understand what it's like to lose a family member. i don't want -- i don't like knowing that that's what happened and something i had sold. >> reporter: eric and the gun shop's owner tell us there is surveillance footage of wade michael page buying that pistol and footage of him using it in their firing range. they say they have turned that over to law enforcement, wolf. >> so they don't have a copy. they're not going to release the footage of him actually walking in that store, purchasing that weapon. but generally, brian, how would officials in wisconsin or the federal law enforcement authorities have checked this guy's background? what would they look for? >> reporter: well, according to the gun shop owners and federal officials and state officials who we talked to, he would have filled out two separate forms for the background check, which they showed us at the store. then those are sent to the

wisconsin department of justice. that agency checks out anything in his background as far as any felony convictions, any possible insanity pleas or any instances of maybe mental illness and whether the courts have ever told the person in question that they can't buy a firearm. we're also told by state officials that the federal law enforcement agencies get involved in the background check as well. so it would have run through all of those checks, wolf. apparently it did and it came back saying that this man could purchase this weapon. >> weapon was purchased legally as the law enforcement authorities there said. thanks very much, brian, for that report. of the six people killed over at the sikh temple, just one was a woman gunned down just as she offered a last prayer. she left behind two sons. and they spoke exclusively with cnn's poppy harlow. >> reporter: wolf, for every person killed in this tragedy there are countless loved ones

grieving. two sons of one of the victims of the shooting opened up to us earlier today about the anguish that this has caused. it didn't take long for kamal sani to learn what happened to his mother. >> told there was a shooting going on outside. we need to get up and leave. rather than just getting up and leaving, she wanted to just bow down and pray for the last time and then get up and leave. and she was just getting up, she was shot in the back. >> reporter: murdered in her sacred place. >> she collapsed there. she didn't have a chance. they said she was dead on the spot. >> reporter: 41 years old. >> i called her a few times and she didn't answer her phone. and i went to the scene and they had every roadblocked off and wouldn't let us through. >> reporter: you tried to find your mom. >> yeah. told the police officer that my mom's in there. you have to let me through.

>> reporter: 20-year-old kamal left his younger brother at home trying to protect him. as survivors emerged, kamal searched among them. >> i went downstairs in the basement and looked for my mom and she wasn't one of them. >> reporter: reality sinking in. >> i had an idea that she didn't make it. but just didn't want to believe it. >> reporter: she went there every thursday and sunday often arriving early to help prepare food. >> she was a good woman. she was a great mom. >> she lived for us. she worked for us. anything she did, it was for us. >> reporter: what was she like when she walked into a room? what was she like? >> always had a smile. she always had a smile.

>> reporter: she saved every penny for the past eight years to take her family to india last month to celebrate her son's birthday. it was their first time back since immigrating to the u.s. >> just experience we had going together. going to the temple. she always want today go there. >> reporter: what were your mother's dreams for you? >> she just wanted us to be educated. >> reporter: both sons want to go into law enforcement. >> land of opportunity they told me when i first came here. >> reporter: do you still believe this is your land of opportunity? >> it took my world away. all it takes is one ignorant person to take somebody's world away. >> reporter: now the brothers want answers. >> why would you do it? why did you do that? >> reporter: for what? >> for what reason?

>> i just want to know where she was laying. i want to go back and look. >> reporter: why? [ inaudible ] >> reporter: the only comfort they have is that their mother's last moments were in the place she loved. and kamal, the older son, is currently studying criminal justice. both the sons told me that this situation has just strengthened their resolve to go into law enforcement, to become police officers and to make their mother proud. and they also wanted me to relay this, wolf, they said they are immensely grateful to all the first responders, the police officers who responded to this horrific tragedy. wolf. >> what a heartbreaking story, poppy harlow, thanks for bringing it to our viewers. were there warning signs before the sikh temple massacre? i'm going to speak live with the police chief, john edwards, the oak creek, wisconsin, police

department. that's coming up here in "the situation room" at the half hour. let's go to jack cafferty right now. he's got the cafferty file. jack. it is election time, as you're probably aware, and the politicians as they want to do will do or say anything to get your vote. starting with president obama and mitt romney and all the way down the line, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle want you to believe that they feel your pain. it's an open question though if any of them really do. ron paul was a rare candidate who actually connected with voters these last two election cycles. he attracted a ground swell of support from people looking for real answers. but it was never enough support to propel him on to the next level. as for most of us the two major plolitical parties, democrat an republican, often seem interchangeable. and the vast majority of locals are staying loyal to the party they were four years ago. there's just a little switching going on.

the gallup poll says 5% of mccain supporters switched to supporting president obama. the group's most likely to change presidential preferences or be undecided include hispanics, asians, independents, political moderates, eastern residents, those with a high school education or less and unmarried men. pollsters say because loyalty to the president is slightly less than loyalty to the republican candidate is the reason that this race appears to be tighter now than the one in 2008. the deepening mystery in all of this is why after continually being disappointed by both parties so many people continue to support them? what's wrong with us? the list of problems the country is mired in suggests the two major parties are the problem, not the solution. and that's our question. how much do the two major political parties really care about you? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile and

post a comment on my blog. or go to our post on the "the situation room" facebook page. >> jack, thank you. so what are authorities in wisconsin learning about the sikh temple shooter's apparent links to white supremacist? i'll ask the oak creek, wisconsin police chief, john edwards. he's standing by live:. syria's blod di war has sent thousands fleeing in fear and horror. we'll introduce you to the family in tent number 257 at a jordan refugee camp. and extraordinary images from mars coming into "the situation room." why scientists are so excited. brave knights! as you can clearly see from this attractive graph that our sales have increased by... sorry, my liege. honestly. our sales have increased by 20%. what is this mystical device i see before me?

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trying to gut welfare reform. our national political correspondent, jim acosta, is traveling with the romney campaign. he's in iowa right now. jim, what exactly is mitt romney saying on this issue? >> reporter: wolf, mitt romney is out to pit one democratic president against another. earlier today he accused president obama of trying to gut one of bill clinton's signature legislative achievements, namely welfare reform. he unleashed this line of attack in mr. obama's home turf of illinois earlier this morning. here's what he had to say. >> i hope you understand that president obama in just the last few days has tried to reverse that accomplishment by taking the work requirement out of welfare. that is wrong. if i'm president, i'll put work back in welfare. >> reporter: now, all of this got started earlier this morning when the romney campaign

released a new tv ad that seized on a memo that was issued by the department of health and human services last month. that memo basically was designed to provide waivers to states in implementing the welfare program. all of this drew a harsh response from the white house, which says the memo itself points out that the goal at the department of health and human services is to get more people back to work. and here's the take from white house press secretary jay carney. >> let me say that this advertisement is categorically false and it is blatantly dishonest. >> reporter: now, the obama campaign is also hard at work responding to this latest line of attack from the romney campaign. they put out this letter. we'll put it up on screen for you, wolf. it shows that back in 2005 mitt romney when he was governor of massachusetts along with other republican governors across the country sent a letter to congress seeking waivers of their own in implementing the

welfare program in their individual states. the goal in that letter it states is to help move people from welfare to work and the obama campaign is also pointing out that when mitt romney was governor of massachusetts, he supported a program that provided car insurance and aaa automobile coverage to welfare recipients who received donated cars. the romney campaign said that that program actually saved money when he was governor of massachusetts. but really, wolf, this is part of a larger theme from the romney campaign. and romney's been hitting it several times over the last few weeks. he is trying to accuse the president of increasing government dependency. something the white house vehemently denies. >> last night the president launched a new line of attack against mitt romney saying he was robin hood in reverse. he called him romney hood, he got a good laugh at that.

today i understand mitt romney is responding with a line of his own. >> reporter: that's right. he's calling all that obamalony, which i think if you were to extrapolate that out, i think it means obama balony. both candidates have fun with each other's names. gives you a sense of where this campaign is and how low it's gotten. and we're still three months out from election time, wolf. >> yeah. little name-calling by both sides. we'll have more on this part of the story later this hour. jim acosta traveling with mitt romney in iowa right now. meanwhile, other important news we're following around the world. the united nations pulled its monitors out of syria's largest city citing the deteriorating security situation. that means the all-out civil war that's raging in aleppo as the city is pounded and pounded by artillery and aircraft, syria is torn apart, its people are fleeing to neighboring countries by the tens of thousands. our pentagon correspondent,

barbara starr, is joining us now from neighboring ahman, jordan. what's going on over there, barbara? what are you seeing? >> reporter: well, wolf, as you say tens of thousands of syrians now making the run for safety across the border here into jordan. they are now, however, in a crisis situation on this side of the border. this family of nine is now living in two plastic tents after escaping from syria. 13-year-old has a broken heart. she tells us. [ speaking in a foreign language ] my mother was murdered. she was outside. we were inside. and there was a bomb. she was hit by shrapnel. she was everything to me. she would take us wherever we want today go. i was the one most attached to her. what else can i tell you?

jordan does not allow the refugees to leave this desert camp. it worries that agents of the assad regime are coming in disguised as refugees and could cause trouble. jordan is preparing for hundreds of thousands more as the fighting grows worse. the chief spokesman says the world has to step up. telling us -- [ speaking in a foreign language ] we tell the whole world and not only president obama to move closer to the details of the syrian crisis. this 31-year-old worked in a restaurant. he and his family escaped with hundreds of others coming under fire as they approached the jordan border. the free syrian army helped us. we crawled until we got out of that area, but there were some who were wounded. some came out with us. others died.

every day at camp now a long walk for food and supplies. already a worry of disease outbreak. water comes out of a tap. young girls do the family laundry in a bucket. the united nations is the first to say things must get better and fast. >> it's a terrible situation. the question is, would you want to put your family in a place like this? no. but we're in emergency operation. >> reporter: you know, wolf, the united nations, the jordanian relief agencies are doing everything they can as fast as they can to make the camp better. everyone will tell you it's desperate circumstances up there. and indeed they are expecting tens of thousands of possibly additional syrian refugees in the coming days and weeks as the fighting grows worse. wolf. >> related question, barbara, while i have you. are you learning anything else about the defection of the syrian prime minister and some other syrian cabinet ministers?

>> reporter: wolf, that's one of the big mysteries around ahman tonight. he has not surfaced. none of these defectors have publicly surfaced. what we have learned is that the former syrian prime minister had been planning this escape really for months. but about two months ago when he was offered the premiership of syria, he felt he had to take it or he would be killed. that is what opposition groups are saying. and he began to plan his escape trying to get secretly across the border. the hope, the plan is, the word is that he may surface publicly somewhere in this region in the next couple of days, wolf. >> barbara starr in jordan for us watching the situation unfold. at the top of the next hour we'll go live to syria. our own ben wedeman is on the ground for us near aleppo. we're also following important new developments in a tucson, arizona, courtroom. the man accused of trying to assassinate the arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords, has just changed his

plea. stand by. new information coming in. also, a volcano erupts for the first time in more than a century. my cut hurt!

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lisa sylvester's monitoring some of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now. lisa, what's going on? >> hi, wolf. this afternoon jared lee loughner pleated guilty in a deal that's expected to avoid the death penalty. his january 2011 shootings killed six people and wounded 13

others including then-congresswoman giffords. loughner's change of pleas came just after a judge ruled him competent to stand trial. what's worse depends on how you look at it? the international monetary fund says in terms of economic growth, the world's worst economy is sudan. instead of growing, that economy's shrinking at 7% a year. by another measure, it's conga where the economy generates just $231 per person per year. and the world's worst inflation rate, 66% is belarus. a thick coating of ash from one of the eruptions of three volcanic peak's on the north island. the volcano's last eruption on this scale was 115 years ago. there are no reports of serious damage or injuries, wolf. >> thank you, lisa.

don't go too far away. so what are authorities learning about the wisconsin shooter's motive? just ahead i'll speak live with the oak creek, wisconsin police chief, john edwards. also, nasa scientists are calling them "awesome." the rover's first pictures from the surface of mars. [ male announcer ] this is the at&t network. in here, every powerful collaboration is backed by an equally powerful and secure cloud. that cloud is in the network, so it can deliver all the power of the network itself. bringing people together to develop the best ideas --

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the more we learn about the

background of the sikh temple shooter, the more questions are being raised. let's discuss what's going on with the -- with chief john edwards of the oak creek, wisconsin, police department. thanks so much, chief, for coming in. our hearts go out to everyone in your community, especially the victims' families. i know this is a very difficult time. thanks for joining us. let me get right to the questions. do you have any new information about wade michael page's possible motive in going into that sikh temple and starting to shoot and kill? >> we're looking at all the obvious indicators, something that would happen in somebody's life that would cause them to snap. trying to eliminate things such as stressors, things like that that occur that make somebody do this. you look for the obvious somebody said he said this, he posted that, he did that, we're not finding anything like that. obviously i have seen as well as everyone else all of what's been put out there about the people he was associated with, the

things he was involved with. but we need to determine what the motive was. and i'm not going to say that was the full motive or we're not going to do that until we can eliminate everything else. one of the things we may have also is we may end up with just a lot of facts of what he's involved with, who he may be associated with, but we may never know that motive because he died. and that motive died with him. >> have you come upon any writings? any computer evidence, if you will, of what he was thinking? if he was plotting something? have you come across, for example, a laptop that may have had some evidence in there? >> the fbi evidence response team has recovered some items and they're going through all that. at this point there's nothing to indicate any of that. >> so he didn't leave a note -- >> we're still going through all of that. >> so you didn't find a specific note i'm planning doing x, y and

z? you haven't come across anything at least not yet along those lines? >> no. that's what i mentioned earlier. you look for the obvious. usually in a situation like this somebody says he said that, he posted that, he wrote that. we haven't found that. >> is indication that anyone else may have known what this individual might have been plotting? >> no. we're confident he was the lone gunman and he was the only one that knew he was going to do this. for what reason we're trying to determine. >> are you getting full cooperation from his family? i know he had an ex-girlfriend in that area. are they all cooperating with you? >> from what i understand everybody is cooperating with the investigators and talking to them and giving them the information that they know. >> did they say there were any warning signs that might have been missed? >> nothing yet. i haven't seen anything. as mentioned earlier, that's one of the things that usually comes out that people come forward and

give us those warning signs and maybe say i should have called, i had an inkling. we have none of that at this point. nothing. >> you suggested yesterday he had been in wisconsin only a relatively short time and was in this apartment in your community. what else can you tell us about the time he spent in wisconsin? >> there really isn't much to say. there's not much of a record. he's been here a short time. he didn't actually live in our city, a neighboring community. and he's been here less than a year. and there really was no contact with law enforcement or anything that would put him on the radar or anything. >> you've seen the photos that have been released myspace and facebook, some showing him with a white pride t-shirt and another in front of a swastika flag. what other conclusions should we draw by simply these two photos? >> well, the problem with that is everybody draws -- they connect the dots differently.

those facts are out there. nobody's going to say they're not out there. but we're looking to see if that does have something to do with this. right now we're not going to say that had something to do -- that might have happened, we don't know. that's out there. obviously it's being looked into. look into that background and trying to determine if something of this nature was responsible for this or something else. that's out there and that's what he was involved in. we just want to be very positive on what we're going to say. like i say, we may never know exactly what the trigger was for this. there was some speculation on the individual had a 9/11 tattoo. he did not have a 9/11 tattoo anywhere on his body. >> what kind of tattoos did he have? >> he had numerous tattoos. some they're still checking into the meaning of. that was a specific one i was given information on because that seemed to be something everybody was focusing on and it wasn't there. there was not a 9/11 tattoo.

>> your colleague, lieutenant brian murphy, he was shot. he's in critical condition. can you update us on what's going on? we're praying for his recovery. >> i did see him last night. i haven't got an update today. he was alert, he was awake. obviously sedated. met with him, a lot of officers met with him very short period of times. he looked at me, smiled, mouthed the words to me that he was sorry. couldn't speak. just the kind of individual he is. he's feeling sorry that in his mind created a commotion here. in my mind what he did was he saved many lives. he did exactly what our officers are trained to do when we run into an active shooter situation, he drew the attention to himself and away from the defenseless. and our other officers arrived on scene and did the same thing. what they did -- we don't know how many lives are saved. what i could look at is how many bullets he had left is we can have a good idea.

as far as his condition, we're very, very positive that he's going to have a long recovery, but he's going to pull through this. >> that .9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol had 17 rounds but he had multiple magazines. is that your information? >> yes, it is. >> so what you're saying if he had not been stopped, many more people could have been killed. >> absolutely. officers are trained when we run into somebody like this that we need to bring them to us or we need to take the fight to them. that's exactly what the officers did in this situation. >> john edwards, oak creek, wisconsin, police chief. chief, thanks so much for what you're doing. we'll stay in close touch and please pass along our deepest, deepest sympathies to all the victims, families and everyone in your community. our heart goes out to you. thanks so much. >> thank you very much. we're going to have more on the story coming up later. we're also going to get back to politics. in our strategy session, will the speakers at mitt romney's

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let's get right to our strategy session. joining us democratic strategist donna brazile and erick erickson. guys, thanks very much for coming in. they're making announcements who's going to speak primetime at the republican convention. erick, we just heard today for example rick santorum will speak, florida governor jeb bush, kentucky senator.

i know the romney folks are very sensitive about some of the other big names speaking who might alienate moderates or undecided independents and they recall the pat buchanan speech at the republican convention back in 1992. i remember that convention. but listen to what pat buchanan said then. >> it is about what we believe and what we stand for as americans. there is a religious war going on in this country. it is a cultural war as critical to the kind of nation we shall be as the cold war itself for this war is for the soul of america. >> the incumbent president george h.w. bush some of his supporters believed that speech hurt him badly. clinton was elected the following november. so, erick, should sarah palin for example or michele bachmann or hermann cain be given

primetime moments? >> i think sarah palin certainly should. she rallies the crowd and understands what to say and how to say things. i'm not sure about herman cain or michele bachmann. they didn't get far. but sarah palin being the former vice presidential nominee quite popular with the base, why not? in the '92 republican with pat buchanan's speech, republicans and democrats like have learned lessons on what to say and whatnot to say at conventions. frankly, i don't know that it matters as much anymore because fewer and fewer people pay attention to them. >> what's your analysis, specifically, donna, about sarah palin? will that help or hurt mitt romney win the election? >> first of all, i agree with erick. she should be given a primetime slot at the convention. after all she rallies the base like no one else. she may alienate independents and others, but she is part of the republican fabric.

it raises the other question, what about donald trump, rush limbaugh, all the other crowd-pleasers? it's wonderful to see what i call the old dis but goodies, they've been on the shelf for a long time, not their age. think about the last two years and what we've been talking about on tv and the republicans. rush limbaugh is driving the narrative. it's donald trump that provided so much of the lightning inside the party. so i think mitt romney's missing a golden opportunity to bring all his friends and bring them to his wonderful convention. >> you want to tell us if you think donald trump and rush limbaugh should speak primetime at the convention, erick? >> oh, i would love for them to speak primetime at the convention. if donald trump focused on barack obama's college transcripts the way he did his birth certificate, we would see them in meltdown. >> mitt romney's holding his tax returns so close to his vest we

couldn't get them out even with a knife. >> when the obama camp releases the fast and furious documents. >> if you start releasing all the tens of thousands of documents you receive, you'll find everything. >> yeah, i'm sure. >> basically what i hear both of you saying but for different reasons is you want all of these individuals to be speaking. donna, you want them to speak because you think it's going to hurt romney with the moderate independent swing voters whether in ohio or virginia or some of the other states. and, erick, you want them to speak because you think it will turn out the base and there will be a lot more people showing up in some of those states. erick, first to you. >> yeah, absolutely. i think so. and same way with the democrat i think etic convention. i hope they put up nancy pelosi and elizabeth warren thank goodness. i think both conventions rally their bases and let's see what happens. i suspect that independents will be a little more scared of the san francisco liberal comeback at the democratic convention than the pat buchanan comeback.

>> donna, ten seconds. >> what's scary, wolf, it's not just letting them speak, it's reaping the republican platform and knowing this is what mitt romney intends to do to the country. i look forward to it. erick, i look forward to going to the convention with you. and i'll buy the first beer if sarah palin is speaking. >> all right, i will be there. i'll be speaking at both of those conventions, but not necessarily to the folks inside that room. thanks very much. awesome. that's how nasa scientists describe new images from mars. stay with us. mid grade dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs g of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback signup for 5% cashback at gas stations through september.

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jack cafferty's here with the cafferty file. jack. >> question this hour is, how

much do the two major political parties really care about you? pardon me. alan in california writes, absolutely none. if you're not a lobbyist or a big donor, they could careless what's best for the commoners and the country. all they want to do is continue their power and job. never call them representatives. dee in new york says the two parties care about me enough to attempt to get me to the polls to elect them to a job with better pay, benefits and retirement than i will ever have. gregg in arkansas says they must care about me quite a bit. they send me notices of how much they have accomplished in washington. they call me regularly at dinner time and remind me how important my vote is to them so that they can continue to represent me. i'm so important that they even invented a machine to call me when they're too busy working on vital legislation to call in person. i guess i'm so lucky to have

these con shscientious official. jim in denver says neither of them do. they only care about themselves and donors. but if it comes down to a decision, i'll side with the democrats because they seem to care somewhat about the middle and lower classes. matt writes on facebook, they don't care about us. they only care about the bankers, lobbyists and special interest groups that line their pockets. both parties are bought and paid for. kirk says on a scale of one to ten, minus 37. you want to read more on the subject, go to the blog on cnn.com/caffertyfile or our post on the "the situation room" facebook page. >> thank you, jack. our first colored pictures from nasa's new mars rover. that's coming in. standby. has helped fund economic and environmental recovery. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to support scientists studying the environment. and the gulf is open for business - the beaches are beautiful, the seafood is delicious. last year, many areas even reported record tourism seasons.

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amazing new pictures coming in from nasa's rover curiosity now on mars. john zarrella is all over these pictures. they are amazing, john. share some with our viewers. >> reporter: wolf, we're going to do that. i want to tell you right now this is the curiosity rover behind me -- a model of the rover. and i want to show -- tell people, first off, right now it's 15 degrees below zero on mars where the rover is. it's actually a warm day there. and look at this. this is the rover 1997, july 4th, it landed on mars. you can see how far they have come here at jpl from that to this. and rob manning, the chief engineer is joining me. rob, all the incredible pictures coming back that we've gotten. show us the ones we actually saw the mountain in the distance. >> that's right. this is taken by one of the two redundant cams. there's a left and right haz

cam. we have redundant set of those. but this camera right here took the first image of this beautiful mountain. almost as high as mt. mckinly. a fantastic place. >> reporter: if we come around this side of the rover, the images we saw as it was descending through the atmosphere. >> well, this camera right here, this is the decent imageer. it's hd quality movie camera that will allow us -- in fact has already allowed us to see a glimpse of what it looks like coming down in the last mile before you get to the surface of mars. >> reporter: less than a minute. tell us what we're getting next. >> okay. as of right now we've made a decision to raise this mass. this mass is currently in its stowed position. tonight our time it will be in the morning, later this morning on mars time, it will rise up, take about a minute to do that. and it will take our first panoramas with some of those cameras up there. we're going to start off with taking some pictures of the deck of the calibration targets.

we're going to see how much dust has been left on this thing. we're also going to take pictures around the horizon, take some nice pictures. >> reporter: so we'll get those first pictures of the horizon. >> we'll get that tomorrow. yes. >> reporter: tomorrow, wolf, they're teasing us again. more great images coming down from mars. the red planet. >> as wolf said, does that mean it's a red state? >> red and blue. >> reporter: okay. not just a red state. >> it's a planet for everyone. >> reporter: it's a planet for everyone, wolf. >> it certainly is. we're looking forward to those pictures, john. thanks very much for that. >> reporter: sure. and you're in "the situation room." happening now violent racially charged lyrics, the music of the wisconsin massacre gunman under scrutiny possibly drawing some young people into a life of hate. also, the attack ad many see as over the top blaming mitt romney for a woman's death from cancer. plus, hundreds of fake law

enforcement ids, an eye-popping bust that has investigators trying to figure out what one man was planning to do with them. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." a law enforcement source is downplaying reports that the fbi was watching the wisconsin massacre wade page before the weekend's deadly shooting. the source tells cnn page "was never a target of an investigation or interviewed or on the radar of the fbi," but the source says page's name was mentioned in a small number of federal law enforcement reference files in cases going back about seven years. investigators are looking at page's alleged ties to white supremacist groups and his music

with far right punk bands. they're being scrutinized for the racially-charged lyrics. listen. ♪ what has happened to america that once was so white and free ♪ [ bleep ]. >> more from mark potok now. mark, thanks very much for coming in. first of all, can you lay out for us the real influence -- the impact if you will, of this kind of music like those lyrics we just heard from the shooter, wade michael page? what's the impact potentially on young americans? you've studied the impact of the music on these white supremacist groups. >> well, what we found basically, wolf, is that this is probably the number one recruiting mechanism for bringing young people, generally teenagers, into the movement. typically what we see is kids

getting interested perhaps because it's such a forbidden topic. and taking a look at this music or really taking a listen through their computers. the kind of into the world that way in a very private way almost like looking through a peek booth. but then the day comes when at least some percentage of those kids actually goes to a skinhead concert. and it's at that point typically that they are recruited. so the music is very important for bringing younger people into the movement. it's also very important because it really provides the bulk of the financing such as it is that neonazi and related kind of groups are able to earn in this country. >> scary stuff. page's stepmother gave an interview and said growing up -- i'm quoting her, he had hispanic friends, black friends, you know, there was none of that. the question -- i don't know if we know an answer to this, but in this particular case, do you think the music shaped his views? or he had these views and the music separately came along?

>> it's very hard to say. there are reports that he in fact in late '90s while he was still at fort bragg ran into a number of neonazi soldiers. there was a big scandal there in '96 when in fact page was at fort bragg. a black couple was murdered, there are a number of neonazis found in the barracks and so on. looks like he may have had his first connection with this movement there. but from there, you know, it looks like basically he more and more came to believe what he's being told. i think it's worth saying that a lot of studies and other work have shown that the bulk of young people who come in to the white supremacist movement surprisingly enough really don't come in because they hate jewish people or hate black people or gay people or whatever it may be. more typically they come in because they have terrible family situations at home. because they feel unsafe,

unwelcome. so in effect they are creating a kind of alternative family, which at first seems warm and welcoming. but the reality is living in that subculture eventually you do adopt the whole ideology or the belief systems. and in most cases it ends in murder, like this. >> he was on your radar. for ten years you've been monitoring this individual, is that right? >> yeah. it's been about ten years. really went into the white power music scene in the year 2000 by his own account. it was right around that time that we became aware of him. and really the reason was he was acting as a lead guitarist and vocalist in some very well-known white supremacist groups. groups including intimidation one. another group called blue-eyed devils. in the strange world of white power music, those are very well-known names.

it was a fairly easy matter for us to notice this new character. and then of course he started his own kind of infamous group in the year 2005. at that point we were really very well aware of him. >> but you never informed -- or told law enforcement about him, did you? >> that is true. and there was in effect nothing to tell. i mean, the truth was page was like thousands and thousands of other people who hold these believes, who may sing these songs, who have incredibly ugly things to say about all kinds of minorities. but in fact who are not engaged or certainly that we saw in any way in criminality. so what i'm trying to say is everything that page did certainly that we were aware of was totally protected by the first amendment. there really wouldn't have been much to say had we gone to law enforcement. so i think there's something more to be said about that, which is i really i don't see any fault in law enforcement in this. i don't see how they might have prevented it. there are just a number of

people out there and some tiny percentage of them will ultimately act on those belie s believes. it's just about impossible to predict or intra dikt. >> there was a quote in the los angeles times that jumped out at me today. he was quoted as saying some private groups collect a lot of information, but they can. law enforcement can't. does that make sense to you? >> it does. i know bob blitzer. and that's true. what he's really saying is that law enforcement is essentially prohibited in this country especially federal law enforcement from starting files on people or organizations simply because they have unpleasant views. so the fbi can open a file on you or i if they are planning or

in fact have already carried one out. we as a private organization with no police powers and no prosecutorial powers can collect any kind of information that we want that we're able to get. so, you know, we are able to do a much more kind of political collecting. we collect information on the groups these individuals are associated with, the statements they've made perhaps in some cases the bands they've played in. and, you know, when a criminal case develops, very typically that is the moment when perhaps we get a call from law enforcement, from a federal agency, asking us do we know about a certain person who's just been arrested. can we fill them in on their organizational/political background? in a sense it's a kind of partnership that works quite well. we can't prosecute people. so this information we collect can't be used in nefarious ways to, you know, destroy people simply because they have heterodox views. and in the same way the police and law enforcement agencies are restricted to criminal matters and not making political

judgments, you know, the left is worse than the right, that kind of thing. >> mark potok, thanks very much for joining us. thanks for the important work you're doing as well. we really appreciate it. >> thanks so much, wolf. i appreciate you, too. >> thank you. it's hard to imagine the scene as police arrived at that temple in oak creek, wisconsin. but we now know the response was nothing less than heroic. here's cnn's randi kaye. >> squad, i'm taking report of an altercation sikh temple 7512 south how el, there's a lot of noise. i'm unable to get much info. >> reporter: minutes after the suspect opened fire oak creek police lieutenant brian murphy was on the scene, the first officer to arrive. he immediately began tending to one of the victims on the ground in the parking lot. but before he knew it the suspected shooter ambushed him. >> the individual walked around either the front of his squad or in that area and was just right on top of him. so he was kind of down in a

fashion down and he took rounds from a person standing up. >> reporter: oak creek police chief john edwards says lieutenant murphy was shot eight or nine times. he was wearing a bullet proof vest, but a bullet hit him near the neck and throat. luckily most of the bullets passed through him hitting only flesh, no critical arteries. while officer murphy lay bleeding, the other officers tried to secure the scene unaware one of their own had been shot. at one point lieutenant tried to reach murphy on the radio telling them they heard gunshots, asking him to confirm. they heard nothing back. in his 21 years on the force, lieutenant murphy had never been shot before. the 51-year-old officer was recently married and has two stepchildren. he also has a daughter who lives in korea. so it took some time to notify her about what happened. with the suspect still firing but in sight, other officers pulled out their rifles and took the fight to him just as the chief says they're trained to do. the suspect shot out a patrol car windshield, but after that

was shot and killed by one of the officers. the officer who took the suspect down is also a family man with a daughter. he's a trained marksman, similar to a sniper in the military. he's a 31-year veteran of the force who teaches his sniper skills at both the u.s. state department and the fbi. the suspect was dead, but where was lieutenant murphy? his fellow officers weren't sure. so they did what they call a par check calling out individual badge numbers over the radio to make sure each officer is okay. >> in this case they went through everybody and they got responses. and when they didn't get a response from lieutenant murphy, who's badge number 62, they called for him. they called numerous times. an officer said we don't have one from 62, we need to find him. >> ambulance up, subject down. >> we have one officer shot. >> franklin dispatch all squad 7512 south how well avenue.

subject down. >> when they did find lieutenant murphy, he waved them off. the chief says murphy was able to speak and told the others "leave me alone." . he wanted the other officers to hurry up inside and save the other victims. >> there's no doubt in my mind that the heroic actions of our police officers prevented an even greater tragedy. >> reporter: randi kaye, cnn, oak creek, wisconsin. last hour i interviewed the police chief in oak creek, john edwards. and he updated us on the condition of officer murphy. >> i did see him last night. i haven't got any update today. he was alert. he was awake. obviously sedated. met with him, a lot of officers had met with him very short periods of time. he looked at me, smiled kind of blank mouthed the words to me that he was sorry. couldn't speak. that's just the kind of individual he is. he's feeling sorry that he in his mind created a commotion here.

in my mind what he did was he saved many lives. he did exactly what our officers are trained to do. when we run into an active shooter situation, he drew the attention to himself and away from the defenseless. >> chief edwards says officer murphy faces a long recovery. but the chief says he will pull through. we are certainly praying for his recovery. more on this story later. also other news we're following. in a season of over the top campaign commercials, this one stands out linking mitt romney to the death of a woman from cancer. we're checking the facts for you. also, why the man who shot congresswoman gabrielle giffords and killed six other people now will not face the death penalty. and could it have been another theater massacre? a heavily armed man inside a late-night showing of the new batman movie. we have details of how he was busted. i'm feeling a very strong male spirit present. it's the priceline negotiator. >>what? >>sorry. he wants you to know about priceline's new express deals.

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let's get right back to jack cafferty for the cafferty file. jack. >> all right.

it's possible, it's possible mitt romney could do worse than sarah palin. it's a stretch, but he could. in a piece on the dale by beast, michelle coddle writes "picking a dull white guy for vice president could damage romney big time." she has a point. after the debacle sarah palin was for john mccain in 2008, camp romney has vowed to pick the anti-palin. she describes this as someone safe, steady, hyper qualified and without a roguish bone in his -- yes, definitely his, body." others like rob portman and tim pawlenty seem more likely to get the nod. but as time ticks down to the convention and on romney's choice, some republicans are getting nervous about what will happen if romney goes with a safe pick, a button down, cautious, boring white guy, sort of like him.

some conservatives are calling on romney to go bold urging him to pick congressman ryan, rubio or bobby jindal. by selecting a vanilla vice president, romney risks the worries of many in the republican party that he lacks enthusiasm and a vision. cot l writes after all this time worrying about another palin, a greater danger to the gop might be a vice president who is so dull that no one even cares what he says to katie couric. portman and pawlenty are set to hit the key battle states this week for him. yawn. here's the question, who's the worst person mitt romney could pick to be his running mate? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile and post a comment on my blog. or go to our post on the "the situation room" facebook page. wolf, we're getting some funny e-mails. >> i can only imagine, jack. i'm looking forward to some of

the responses. thank you. meanwhile a new attack ad by a super pac basically blames mitt romney for a woman's death from cancer after his company from bain capital shut down the steel mill where her husband worked. let's go to brianna keilar, she's watching the story for us. on the surface it seems pretty outrageous to blame mitt romney for the death of this woman. that's a pretty outrageous claim. but what's going on here? >> reporter: it does when you dig deeper, wolf. the ad makes it sound like this woman passed away shortly after bain capital closed down the steel plant where her husband worked. in reality she passed away five years after it closed. and the former steel worker in this ad, i spoke to him on the phone and he said that during some of that time his wife has insurance through her employer. so, wolf, this is a heart-wrenching story, but it's not accurate. joe worked at gst steel in missouri for almost 30 years.

he was laid off after bain capital acquired the plant, eventually closing it down. now he's featured in a new ad by priorities usa action, the super pac supporting president obama's re-election. >> when mitt romney and bain closed the plant, i lost my health care. and my family lost their health care. and a short time after that my wife became ill. and then i took her up to the jackson county hospital and admitted her for pneumonia. that's when they found the cancer. by then it was stage 4. there was nothing they could do for her. >> reporter: it's a heartbreaking story, but the ad does not tell all of it. in 1999 mitt romney leaves bain for the salt lake olympics stopping day-to-day oversight of the company but remaining ceo. in 2001 joe soptic loses his job when bain closes the plant. his wife still has insurance through her employer. a year later romney formerly leaves bane. and it's that year, 2002 or

perhaps 2003 soptic tells cnn his wife leaves her job because of an injury. that's when he became uninsured without fallback from her husband. in 2006 she goes to the hospital is diagnosed with cancer and dies days later. he appeared in another ad back in may for the obama campaign blames romney for the loss of his job and his insurance. >> that's the way that i feel. i mean, mitt romney, he's a very rich man. it's obvious if you watch him on television that he's completely out of touch with the average family, middle income people. i don't think he has any concept as to how when you close a big company like that how it affects families, the community. you know, it affects everyone. >> reporter: the romney campaign is blasting the ad. a spokeswoman saying president

obama's allies continue to use discredited and dishonest attacks in a contemptible effort to conceal the administration's deplorable economic record. the obama campaign and the white house are keeping their distance from the debate. white house press secretary jay carney said he has yet to see the ad. >> i'm simply saying i have not seen this. so how could i possibly assess it without -- >> will you assess it later? >> if you ask me tomorrow, sure. >> reporter: now, wolf, i followed up with carney after the briefing and he told me he may look at the ad but if i ask about it "my assessment will be i have no assessment, this is the case of the super pac being able to do the dirty work and the campaign and candidate trying to keep its hands clean, wolf. >> the white house at least now not touching this commercial. the obama campaign i take it isn't saying anything about it either, is that right? what about the super pac itself? what are they saying? >> reporter: that's right. everything is being referred to the super pac. i spoke with bill burton, a

founder of priorities usa action. and i pressed him on this, are you drawing a link between mitt romney and this woman's death? he said, no, we're not doing that. wolf, i think a lot of people who looked at that ad, certainly you, certainly i, did not walk away with that impression. >> we'll talk about this ad in our next hour as well. we have a representative from the obama campaign, a representative from the romney campaign. they'll be on together. and we'll go through this point by point by point. excellent report, brianna. i appreciate the good work. thanks so much. other news we're following including tropical storm ernesto. now hurricane ernesto. up next the latest on the monster storm's path. where it's expected to make landfall hours from now. plus, hollywood loses a legendary composer. you may not necessarily know his face, but you surely know the music. behind it you're going to hear what's going on. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." g for your attention. so we invented a warning

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ernesto now officially a hurricane. lisa sylvester's monitoring that and other stories in "the situation room" right now. what's the latest, lisa? >> hi, wolf. the storm is barrelling toward mexico's yucatan peninsula where it's expected to make landfall tonight. the mexican government has issued a hurricane warning as has neighboring ma. banned boats from setting sail and parts of the region are bracing for what could be up to a foot of rain. and some of the most prominent sports leagues in the country are pushing to keep sports gambling out of new jersey. the ncaa, nfl, nba and others

have filed a complaint arguing it would demean the integrity of both professional and amateur sports. the state's proposed gambling regulations were posted last month at new jersey governor chris kristie named in the complaint. and marvin hamlisch has died. even if you don't know his face, you probably know the music behind it. ♪ yes, that's carly simon performing her legendary hit "nobody does it better" from the james bond film "the spy who loved me." also produced scores for classic films like "the way we were" starring barbara striesand and robert redford.

♪ that song i'm sure prompting some memories for some people. hamlisch earned almost every award imaginable for his music. he was 68 years old. some other scores the staying, the cohorus line, he was a gen s genius. >> i met him many times. heard him at the kennedy center. very much involved in the kennedy center. my heart goes out to his family. obviously a great, great composer, a real talent. and we will enjoy his music forever. there's no doubt about that. >> yeah. so you actually met him, wolf? that's pretty impressive.

>> he was a lovely, lovely guy. i got to tell you, when i heard the news i was just really, really saddened that we lost one of the great american geniuses in the music world. he was fabulous. we will miss marvin hamlisch. >> we will. all right. let's move on. a plea bargain for the man who shot congresswoman gabrielle giffords in that tucson rampage. why did prosecutors strike a deal with jared lee loughner? also a possible copycat plot. police arrested a man inside a late-night showing of the new batman movie. this man is about to be the millionth customer. would you mind if i go ahead of you? instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. people don't like to miss out on money

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just a little while ago the man who shot congresswoman gabrielle giffords and killed six people in a rampage in tucson last year pleaded guilty to 19 charges. in exchange, jared lee loughner will not face the death penalty. kyung lah is joining us now from tucson. kyung, tell our viewers what happened today in a federal courtroom in tucson? >> reporter: it was a competency hearing first where the judge determined where he was competent in fact to face trial. but the second part is what we're focusing on. it's the change of plea. he pled guilty as you mentioned to 19 counts as part of the plea deal that is a lowering of 49 counts. when he entered the courtroom today, it was a very different jared lee loughner than reporters had seen before. he was calm in demeanor. when he walked in he did look

mentally unwell. he looked at the public gally and had an unusual look on his face, almost like a sneer. but he seemed to be able to respond to questions. his parents were seated right behind me as he said again and again as a judge was announcing those 19 charges saying i plead guilty. and his mother did cry as all of this was happening. a very somber mood inside this courtroom. there are many victims present. one of those victims is the woman who brought 9-year-old christina taylor green to the congress event to meet former representative giffords. here's what she told reporters. >> this is the system doing its best. it's not a perfect solution. the perfect solution is one that we can't have. what we want is not available to us.

>> reporter: it's in the best interest of all meaning that we're simply avoiding a long trial for these victims almost victimized again through the legal procedure, wolf. the doctor who testified in the competency hearing, she's a doctor who treats the worst of the worst and she says in her opinion jared lee loughner's mental state is among one of the worst she's ever seen. >> kyung lah reporting for us. thanks for that background. let's dig a bit deeper right now with cnn legal contributor paul kal lan. he's going to plead guilty in exchange for the death penalty off the table. why would the prosecutors accept this plea deal? there were so many eyewitnesses. it seemed to the average person out there like a slam dunk. >> well, i think clearly it is a slam dunk. they could have proven beyond all doubt much less beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed these murders and shootings. however, his history of mental illness is really quite

disturbing. i mean, remember this goes back now over a year and he's been in and out of courtrooms arguing about whether he could be forced to take psych tropic medications. every psychiatrist, every psychologist who has seen him has said that he's a severely disturbed person, probably suffering from schizophrenia, harms himself, a danger to other people. all of these things would be heard by a jury ultimately. and there is a possibility he could be found insane at the time of trial, in which case he goes off to a mental institution rather than a jail. >> the statement released by mark kelly, the husband of congresswoman gabrielle giffords says among other things, gabby and i have been in contact with the u.s. attorney's office throughout this process. we don't speak for all of the victims of their families, but gabby and i are satisfied with his plea agreement. the pain and loss caused by the events of january 8, 2011, are inkal kubl.

we hope the whole southern arizona community to continue with our recovery and move forward with our lives. so how important is the reaction from the victims' families in accepting a plea agreement like this? >> i think it's critical. when i was trying murder cases as a prosecutor, the victim's family always had an important -- their opinion was always important. on the other hand, i don't think the u.s. attorney took an actual poll. if the majority voted for death, he would have gotten death. they strongly consider the opinions of the victims. i think in the end prosecutors had in mind maybe a scene -- like a scene that took place earlier in these proceedings where loughner began screaming in court and had to be dragged out of the courtroom. now, picture that happening maybe once, twice a week during an extended trial, it would have been torture for the victims. and you might have had a jury that became convinced that he should be found not guilty by reason of insanity. so i think prosecutors took a safe course, incarcerate him for

life and of course the victims seem happy with. >> will he be incarcerated for life without the possibility of parole? i didn't get that nuance. it's an important nuance, obviously. >> well, given that this is the federal system where, you know, life means life generally and because you have so many victims and the possibility of consecutive sentencing, i think it's highly unlikely he would ever be released from prison. and i would add that even if a decision was made to parole him at some time in the far, far distant future, he could still be incarcerated in a mental institution if he constituted a danger to himself and others. and of course there's one last thing that still lingers out there. prosecutors on a state level have the right to bring a case against him if they wanted to. and that's something i don't know that they've resolved that finally. they probably won't, but they could because state charges are separate from federal charges. >> i know it's very, very remote, but there is a slight

possibility, you tell me how slight it is, that the federal judge in this case could reject this plea agreement and give him -- and say he doesn't go with it. how slight is that possibility? >> well, i would say that's just not going to happen right now because the very fact that it got this far in court today indicates that the federal judge is on board and is going to, you know, accept the plea and is going to probably impose it very, very harsh sentence. so i think this is pretty much a done deal on the federal level. you're going to see a very, very severe sentence. but it's such a bizarre case, wolf, he could have a breakdown between now and the time of sentencing and be found incompetent. remember, he's been found not competent to stand trial for over a year. he's got severe mental illness. so this tale is not over yet. we have to see with each court appearance whether he remains competent. >> paul callan, cnn legal contributor and former prosecutor himself.

just very quickly, paul, if it had been up to you, you would have done what the prosecutors in this case did, you think it's a good deal. >> yeah. i can't quarrel with their decision at all. you know, death penalty cases are always very, very difficult. and the fact that -- by the way, it's unquestioned that he suffers from severe mental illness. it's very difficult to get the death penalty imposed in individuals who have severe mental illness. and he's sort of borderline competent to stand trial. it would have been a tough death penalty case for prosecutors. i'd be hard pressed to second guess them. >> paul, thanks very much for helping us better appreciate what's going on. thank you. >> nice being with you, wolf. >> thank you. guns, knives, ammunition and more all belonging to a man police fear may have been plotting a copycap theater massacre. also coming up in our 6:00 p.m. eastern hour, how smithsonian parking attendants allegedly stole more than $400,000 from tourists. [ obama ] i'm barack obama and i approve this message.

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just weeks after that deadly theater massacre in aurora, colorado, police have made an arrest in another eerlly similar incident. a man with knives and a loaded handgun. deborah feyerick is joining us with the latest. what's going on here, deb? >> with what this man was wearing, police in ohio believe they may have averted a massacre similar to the one in aurora, colorado. scott a. smith is facing charges. police say saturday night he went to the regal theater to see the 10:30 p.m. showing of the new batman movie, the same one

as the colorado shooter. smith arrived about 30 minutes early. he was the first one in the theater. he took his seat in the back row directly in the middle with his back to a wall. a manager and offduty police officer got suspicious not only because of where he was sitting but also because smith was carrying a bag that didn't look quite right. you can see a picture of it right there. so they asked to search. and inside they found a loaded .9-millimeter semiautomatic handgun, two loaded clips, three knives and was carrying a fourth knife on him. he told the offduty officer that he was carrying the knives for protection to protect himself and other movie goers. the offduty cop did not buy it, took him into custody and then searched his home and car. >> we found a lot of weapons in there, a lot of rifles, ammunition, gas masks, survivalist type of gear in there. a lot of it. we talked to his wife. we served her with the inventory for all the items we took.

she says he's into that type of stuff. >> now, that was west lake lieutenant curry. he says police believe smith's position in the movie theater was actually tactical, that not only was he protected from the back because of that wall, but he could have opened fire right, left and center, according to the lieutenant. and the entire movie theater really would have been in front of him. and nearly 80 people saw the movie that night. so right now quick thinking on the part of this manager and offduty police officer may have averted what could have been another tragedy, wolf. >> i understand smith was briefly in the army. what do you know about that? >> what we do know that according to the military he spent a month in the army in 1995 before being discharged. he only lasted a month. he never completed basic training. >> what about the charges? what was going on? >> well, he's expected to be charged with carrying a concealed weapon inside a movie theater even though in ohio you can carry a concealed weapon, not in a public place like a movie theater.

there will be other charges as well. police say they found several prescription medications also and that would have made him ineligible to carry any firearm at all, wolf. >> deborah feyerick, scary stuff. thank you. a new line of attack in the race for the white house. why president obama's now referring to his rival as romney hood. plus, details of the man busted with fake law enforcement ids. >> he was a coast guard, a coast guard pilot. then he told us he was in the air force. then he told us he was a health care worker. and then at the very end he was a federal agent. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about fees.

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cafferty file. >> question this hour, who is the worst person that mitt romney could pick to be his running mate? keith writes michele bachmann on the ticket with romney is a cocktail miss that could kill rats in the sewer and any hope raumds has of being the next president. b in georgia, chris christie has to be the best example of an overbearing, overweight over the top conservative that thinks he has something to say to america. if he faces off against joe biden, they'll be laughing. tom is texas. let's play fill in the blank. i'll give you the first name, you do the rest. sarah. rob portman possible the worst, boring boring and yes, boring. he could really use someone like chris tease tee. robert. the worst choice is another

partisan hack, somebody that says one thing and does another. the best thing would be to go across the aisle and pick hillary clinton. this would offer a ticket both sides could get behind. jim writes sarah palin. you did say the worst, didn't you? paul in ontario, the worst choice would be michelle bomb man, a woman with the brains of a peppermint. it would be like the reincarnation of sarah palin. robert writes you deserve the same answer romney gave brian williams when the anchor isn't that correctly asked if the vp would be a boring white guy. you told me you weren't available. go to the cafferty file on look for our post on "the situation room" facebook page. >> clever writers. going to go there. new information about the day the gunman purchased the weapon allegedly used in the

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sounds like a catch me if you can, a florida man arrested with fake items from ids to a flight suit and helmet. police are trying to determine how serious this case might be. bring in cnn sandra endo. what are you learning? >> reporter: it is one thing to collect uniforms and badges but impersonating law enforcement officers or other officials could lead to federal and state criminal charges, and now in

florida police are investigating whether or not a man in newport richey stepped over that criminal line. it was a fraud big enough to inspire the movie "catch me if you can." a man that impersonated a pilot, a doctor, and other professions. now florida police think they may have caught another imposter. they found 200 items, including fake police and law enforcement ids, military and boy scout uniforms. ammunition, service pins and diplomatic license plates. they want to know why the 52-year-old roy and teeing was has them. >> is this a person that has a fantasy gone wild or criminal intent. there's too much in the collection to pass off as something that's benign. >> reporter: police discovered the items after stopping him for a traffic violation last week. based on the evidence you collected, all of the badges that you have seen, they're all

fake, but could he have gotten access into secure zones? >> i myself sat next to him at a memorial event for fallen soldiers where he was in full united states coast guard lieutenant commander uniform at an event honoring fallen soldiers. so if he was in that event, i suspect he is comfortable enough to go and portray this impersonation at other venues. >> reporter: police say he drove this black escalade, similar to government vehicles, equipped with flashing blue police lights. authorities are investigating if his impersonations broke any laws. neighbors say he told them a variety of stories, too. >> first he was a coast guard, coast guard pilot. then told us he was in the air force. then told us he was a health care worker. then at the very end he was a federal agent. >> reporter: officials say he was last employed as a health care worker. they say he does hold a

legitimate commercial pilot's license and was a coast guard volunteer. police say the fake id pictures date back more than a decade, all of which he admitted were counter fit. >> he expressed remorse this has gotten blown out of control. he said that he is portraying these different law enforcement officials and military professionals because it was something he always aspired to be. >> reporter: he has pleaded nothing to traffic violation. the only charge he is facing right now. we reached out to his lawyer who did not want to comment on the case, and the secret service and fbi are also aware of this situation, but so far have found no wrongdoing. wolf? >> sandra endo, thanks very much. happening now, we're tracking the temple gunman's movements before the shooting, including practice rounds he fired. mitt romney responds to name calling by president obama with a snarky tone of his own.

and while looking at space ships, thieves were taking off with parking fees. i am wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." a law enforcement force tells cnn the sikh temple gunman was not under investigation. there's no information to suggest they wanted to open a case on wade michael page. they're retracing his steps in the days leading to the rampage. brian todd joins us from oak creek, wisconsin. you went to the gun store where page bought his weapon. what are you learning? >> reporter: learning several new details about the purchase of the weapon authorities believe was used in the temple shooting. this comes from the gun store manager who is still shaken by the experience. >> one officer shot.

>> suspect involving white t-shirt, officer down. >> reporter: it was less than a week before the carnage that the suspect, wade michael page stopped here and picked up the 9 millimeter semi automatic pistol he is believed to have used in the sikh tim pell. according to the manager of the shooter shop outside milwaukee. when you heard about this incident, what was going through your mind? >> first reaction, i was hoping we didn't sell him a firearm. >> reporter: he can't say if he was working when page bought the weapon july 28th or when he picked it up two days later after a background check. he says page likely paid about $700 for a model known as xdm, similar to this one. according to he and law enforcement officials, it was all above board. >> the firearm was purchased legally. >> reporter: when page was in the store. >> did anything about him strike out to you or the employees here that may have dealt with him?

>> he was unrememberable, not rememberable to any of us. he didn't, you know, there are two types of people you remember, long-standing customers as well as people who rub us the wrong way and then don't buy a gun here. >> reporter: so you refuse people who give you a bad vibe. >> yes, we do. >> reporter: and he didn't. >> he wouldn't have purchased a firearm here if he did. >> reporter: employees say this is mainly used for target practice and self defense. a law enforcement official says page also bought ammunition at the shooter's shop and came here to use the firing range. the owner says he used this range july 30th, same day he picked up the weapon. his brother demonstrates the power of a similar 9 millimeter. brian says each magazine holds at least 17 bullets. in the store, i ask eric who worked here a decade how he feels looking back on this.

>> it hurts. it's not something that i would want obviously. you know, the community is in pain. i'm lost for words, i'm sorry. you know, a year ago this month i lost my daughter. i understand what it is like to lose a family member. i don't want, i don't like knowing that's what happened on something i had sold. >> reporter: he and the gun store owner says there is surveillance footage of him purchasing the weapon and of him using the firing range and they say they turned that footage over to law enforcement. >> did they tell you they watched that surveillance video, the video in that store before they turned it over to law enforcement, brian? >> reporter: they have been a

little cagey about most of the details of that, wolf. they did not tell us whether they watched it or not. maybe some of the details can come out if we can get our hands on the footage. i'm sure that's something of great interest to law enforcement in their analysis of all this. >> i spoke with the oak creek police chief earlier today. he said there were multiple magazines. you say each magazine had 17 bullets. do we know how many magazines he had when he went into the sikh temple? >> reporter: no. at the store they only said he bought ammunition, wouldn't say how much. you can see by the demonstration of that weapon, carries quite a punch. 17 bullets in each magazine, can squeeze off many rounds with several magazines at his disposal. a lot of damage he could have done and did. >> more from the police chief later this hour. my interview with him, we'll run

it in "the situation room." brian, thanks for the good work. also learning about wade michael page's ties to white sue premises and how he spread a message through music. told he played in two skin head bands and was associated with one of the most racist groups in the united states. what are you finding, drew? >> reporter: it was wide in the open on this guy, he was a walking billboard of hate with all of his tattoos on his arms that you just showed, wolf, and he expressed his hatred of jews, blacks, muslims through his music, white power music, which has become sort of the way the message of hate is being spread in this country. the white power music scene has become according to those that follow it the focal point of hate groups in america. its festivals around the country are gatherings for fans of blue

eyed devils, and wade michael page's band, apathy, punk rock with disturbing lyrics like this song from the band definite hate. ♪ coming to america white and free. >> reporter: he says beyond the disturbing lyrics is the disturbing mission. >> they're known for recruiting, bringing young people into the movement. play festivals, shows, gigs around the country specifically designed to bring in new people, indoctrinate them into white nationalist movement. >> reporter: he penned the sound tracks to white revolution, says they have hundreds of bands and generate millions of dollars. wade michael page lived in that world for the past 12 years. >> from what we have been able to uncover, mr. page was

intimately involved helping lead the white power music scene. in several different white power bands that played roles in recruiting a myriad of young people into the white nationalist movement. >> reporter: one thing we know, he wasn't making a living in music. had a bunch of low level jobs, most of which he was fired from. as far as we can tell by tracking so tracking some of the websites and festivals, his band wasn't doing much appearances as of late. >> but this whole skin head music phenomenon, that's an effective tool to recruit young people into the movement, is that what you're hearing? >> reporter: that's what experts and others that tried to study white power music scene, how do they keep regenerating themselves, not necessarily growing but getting young people involved to replenish the troops. seems they have gone to punk rock sound, getting festivals

together in various cities across the country, trying to pass on the message of hate through the music. i heard one person say it is one thing to hand out a pamphlet, most kids don't read pamphlets, but they do listen to music, hear the repeated lyrics over and over again, and many believe that's a way to indoctrinate messages of hate. >> a scary, scary thought. drew, thanks very much. kate bolduan is here. this story has shaken so many of us. >> i was thinking that, drew, that was a great report but disturbing details coming out. another story we need to tell you about. the gunman in last year's deadly mass shooting outside an arizona super market now says he is guilty. jared lee loughner pled guilty today to 19 counts in the rampage that killed six and wounded then congresswoman gabrielle giffords and others.

e exchange, he won't face the death penalty. much more on that to come. a tennessee mosque set to open friday after officials granted the board a temporary certificate of occupancy. it follows two years of legal wrangling. anti-muslim sentiment, concern by some in the community whether that mosque should be allowed to expand. the first service before the end of the holy month of ram done. and a top iranian official showing support for syria's embattled regime. secretary of state hillary clinton warned syria and allies that the fall of president bashar al assad is inevitable. >> i think we can begin talking about and planning for what happens next, the day after the

regime does fall. i'm not going to put a time line on it. i can't possibly predict it, but i know it's going to happen as does the most observers. >> and ex-prime minister arrived in jordan, defected from the assad regime. yesterday there was question about his whereabouts. now we have that information. ♪ and colleagues remember marvin hamlisch, one of the country's most prolific composers for music, movies, tv. you're hearing him play a song from "a chorus line." includes hits from the way we were and sound track to "the

sting." he was 68 years old. three oscars, four grammys, a tony, three golden globe awards. amazing, that music will live on. >> what a loss, only 68 years old. >> i know. all we know is it was after a brief illness. >> his music will live forever. he was a good man. half past the hour, mitt romney accuses the president of gutting welfare reform, doing it on president obama's home turf. and the sons of the only woman killed at the sikh temple share anguish over her death. >> do you believe this is your land of opportunity? >> took my world away. all it takes is one ignorant person. >>what? >>sorry. he wants you to know about priceline's new express deals. it's a faster way to get a great hotel deal without bidding.

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of her favorite places in the world. poppy harlow spoke with them in an emotional interview. >> reporter: for every person killed in this tragedy, there are countless loved ones grieving. the two sons of parmjit kaur toor opened up earlier today about the anguish this has caused. it didn't take long for him to learn what happened to his mother. >> i told her there's a shooting going on outside, we needed to get up and leave. rather than just getting up and leaving, she wanted to just bow down and play for the last time. and then get up and leave. and she was just getting up. she was shot in the back. >> reporter: murdered in her sacred place. >> she collapsed there. she didn't have a chance. they said she was dead on the spot. >> reporter: parmjit kaur toor,

41 years old. >> called a few times, she didn't answer her phone. went to the scene, had every roadblocked off, wouldn't let us through. >> you tried to find your mom. >> yeah. told the police officer my mom is there, you have to let me through. >> reporter: this 20-year-old left his younger brother home, trying to protect him. as survivors emerged, kamal searched among them. >> i searched where the rescuers were, looked for my mom, she wasn't one of them. >> reporter: reality sinking in. >> i had an idea that she didn't make it. but just didn't want to believe it. >> reporter: she went every thursday and sunday, often arriving early to help prepare food. >> she was a good woman. she was a great mom. >> she lived for us.

she worked for us. anything she did, it was for us. >> what was she like when she walked into a room, what was she like? >> always had a smile. always had a smile. >> reporter: parmjit saved money for the past eight years to take her family to india to celebrate his 18th birthday. the first time back since emigrating to the u.s. >> it was a great experience being together. she always wanted to go to the temple. >> what were your mother's dreams for you. >> wanted us to be educated. said education is everything here. >> reporter: they both want to go into law enforcement. >> land of opportunity they said when i got here. >> reporter: do you believe this is your land of opportunity? >> they took my world away.

all it takes is one ignorant person, one ignorant person to take somebody's world away. >> reporter: now the brothers want answers. >> why would you do it? why did you do that? >> reporter: for what? >> for what reason? >> i want to know where she was lying. i want to go back and look. >> why? >> last time she was there. >> reporter: the only comfort they have is that their mother's last moments were in the place she loved. and kamal, the older son is currently studying criminal justice. both sons tell me the situation strengthened their resolve to go into law enforcement, to become police officers and to make their mother proud, and they also wanted me to relay this, wolf. they are immensely grateful to the first responders, police officers that responded to this horrific tragedy. wolf? >> what a sad, sad story, poppy.

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the latest on the civil war going on in syria right now. another 140 people killed today, according to opposition groups. our senior international correspondent ben wedeman is on the ground in northern syria, outside aleppo. ben is joining us on the phofop. ben, what's the latest information you're getting?

>> reporter: we know the syrian air force jets continue to bomb parts of the city that are controlled by the free syrian army. we saw throughout the day planes dropping bombs and going around the old city, and in very packed civilian areas. some areas of the town in fact which are under the control of the rebels, where fewer civilians fled. we were in one of the field hospitals operated in rebel controlled area and the doctors complained to us that they're short on medicine, medical supplies and staff because many of the doctors and nurses who normally work there can't make it to the field hospital because of the fighting. in fact, we watched as the doctor who ran that field hospital came out of surgery, his hands covered in blood,

holding his cell phone, pleading and begging with doctors and nurses to come and help him deal with the wounded that have come in from yet another air strike on civilian areas in aleppo. it really went on all day long, and that after a night of severe shelling. the rebel controlled areas of aleppo, in fact, we got little sleep overnight, wolf, because the bombardment was so intense. the humanitarian situation remains dire. many are trying to leave rebel controlled parts of the city because they feared the government forces are about to launch an offensive. we watched, more than 100 people lined up to get whatever bread they could from the only functioning bakery in that part

of town. spoke with one man that told me his entire family is sleeping in the stairwell of their apartment building, out of fear of the artillery bombardment. otherwise, we were also seeing merchant store owners loading pickups with goods, there was fighting through the rebel held parts of the city, and government forces come in, they could move their entire everything they have. so very much a sense of trepidation at the possibility there will be a massive government offensive to try to retake the rebel held parts of aleppo. >> quickly, ben, before i let you go, you're in a dangerous situation. you were in libya in the worst times in fighting, in egypt in the worst times there. how much worse is the situation in syria compared to libya and egypt? >> reporter: this is really much

worse. i didn't see anything in egypt like this, in the egyptian revolution and aftermath were much less bloody. libya, you have almost more people in the city of aleppo than the entire country of libya, and these are very densely populated areas. aleppo is a huge city that spreads over a huge area. there are many people now. we have heard from humanitarian officials with more than 200,000 civilians have fled the civilian areas. what that means is there are millions left behind and you have a government that does not hesitate to drop bombs, to strengthen areas they know that civilians are living there. we were woken up, not woken up, when trying to sleep at 3:00 in the morning, we were shaken

awake by bombardment on a civilian building about 300 meters away from us. there were no signs of any fighters there. this is a government that is going to try to crush the rebellion, regardless of what it means to its own people. wolf? >> one of our courageous journalists, ben wedeman outside aleppo in northern syria. ben, thank you very, very much. we'll stay on top of this story. other news we are following, including more name calling in the presidential race. are the obama and romney campaigns for getting about important issues voters came about most? stand by. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about that 401(k) you picked up back in the '80s. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 like a lot of things, the market has changed, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and your plans probably have too.

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oba obamaloney. jim acosta is traveling with the president in illinois. >> reporter: mitt romney is out to pit one democratic president to another, welfare reform. the gop contender unleashed the attack on mr. obama's home turf of illinois. >> president obama in the last few days has tried to reverse that accomplishment by taking the work requirement out of welfare. that's wrong. if i am president, i'll put work back in welfare. >> reporter: they're seizing on this memo from health and human services that offers waivers to states implementing that welfare program. romney's latest ad says that memo adds up to fewer welfare recipients meeting requirements. >> under obama's plan you wouldn't have to work and train for a job.

they just send you your welfare check. >> reporter: in response, the white house pointed to the memo that reads hhs will only consider approving waivers relating to work participation requirements that make changes intended to lead to more effective means of meeting the work goals. >> let me say this advertisement is categorically falls and blatantly dishonest. >> reporter: they e-mailed this letter signed by romney in massachusetts, appealing to congress for increased waiver authority in the program for the sake of moving recipients from welfare to work. obama aides pointed out then governor romney defended a state program that provided automobile insurance and aaa plans to welfare recipients that were donated cars. for romney, the welfare tax is part of a theme that president obama is encouraging government dependency. as romney told a fund-raiser last month, your friends that like obama care, you remind them of this. if they want more stuff from the

government, tell them to go vote for the other guy. it is an echo of a message newt gingrich used in the primaries. >> president obama is the most effective food stamp president in american history. >> reporter: the president counters it is romney's economic plan that will hurt the middle class, accusing the gop contender of being a reverse robin hood. >> it is romney hood. he asked the middle class to pay more in taxes so he could give another $250,000 tax cut to people making more than $3 million a year. >> reporter: the romney campaign called that charge from the president in their words obamaloney. speaking of campaign baloney, there was an item in the drunk report that he may pick david petraeus as his running mate. the agency put out a statement petraeus is staying put. romney is in iowa for a campaign event tomorrow morning.

not to be outdone, the president is headed to iowa early next week for a three day trip through the state. it happens at the same time romney is on the high profile bus tour up and down the east coast when everybody is watching to see whether he announces his vice presidential running mate. the pace is certainly picking up out here, wolf. >> i suspect he will be announcing his running mate as early as next week. let's take a closer look, kate, as what may be the harshest political ad so far of this political season. >> i think that's a good estimation, wolf. what we are talking about was put out by priorities usa action. the ad ties mitt romney and his work at bain capital to the death of a woman, tries to tie his work to the death of a woman. the wife of a former steel worker. here is part of that spot. >> when mitt romney and bain closed the plant, i lost my health care, and my family lost their health care, and a short time after that, my wife became

ill. i don't know how long she was sick, and i think maybe she didn't say anything because she knew we couldn't afford the insurance. and then one day she became ill and i took her up to jackson county hospital, and admitted her for pneumonia, that's when they found the cancer, and by then it was stage four. there was nothing they could do for her. and she passed away in 22 days. i do not think mitt romney realizes what he has done to anyone. and furthermore, i do not think mitt romney is concerned. >> let's talk about this ad. let's bring in our guests, obama campaign press secretary jennifer saki, and bay buchanon, senior adviser to romney campaign, author of bay and her boys. thanks for coming in. you want to associate or disassociate yourself with this pro-obama super pac ad?

>> as you know, we have about as much to do with priority ads as we do with michael phelps winning gold medals. there's a larger question we have been discussing for months, what we do and don't know about romney's time at bain, how long he was there, what decisions he was involved in, who he laid off, who he was involved with laying off, and what benefits were cut. >> did a fact check of the ad, it is full of falsehoods. the campaign is not associated with the super pac, but you can say we want to disassociate from that ad it is repulsive if you say that. >> we have nothing to do with the ad. we are focused on our race and going to colorado tomorrow, that's where we're at from the campaign side. >> do you want inaccurate ads and information out there? if this was coming from a romney super pac, you would be all over this. >> look, we're focused, when the president goes out and talks about the campaign, talks about

differences between himself and mitt romney, he will be out there tomorrow talking women's health care, providing access to affordable health care for women, that's what this race is about. we can't speak to super pac ads. we don't have anything to do with them, so i don't have anything further on the super pac ads. >> pretty serious when you're not doing it but the super pac makes this allegation that mitt romney is responsible for the death of this woman when that's simply not true. >> wolf, i wasn't involved with making the ad. no one on the campaign was involved. let the super pac speak to that. >> i want you to respond. there have been false romney ads, taking words the president of the united states said totally out of context. >> let me just go back, jen. are you suggesting you cannot be certain that mitt romney was not part, took any part whatsoever in this poor woman's death? >> i wasn't involved with making the ad. no one from the campaign was involved with making that ad. >> this is typical. we have the most powerful man in

the world, president of the united states, takes no responsibility for his campaign, no responsibility for his pacs, no responsibility for his cabinet members who are out there raising money, for this pac so this ad can run. takes no responsibility for pain and suffering this country is suffering. the people in this country are suffering with high unemployment, loss of holes, falling into poverty. only thing he takes responsibility for is the businesses other people are building. this is a disgraceful, despicable, dishonest ad, and if the president of the united states does not want shame on himself, he should immediately reject it outright. >> i have to say it is ironic hearing you say that since you support mitt romney who has questioned whether the president is american or whether he supports freedom. there's a lot of things thrown around in this campaign, including from mitt romney himself, so we can speak to that, too. >> i think there's a memo we must have missed from the barack obama campaign that said something like listen, all democrats, become aware, alert, we have nothing to run on.

we have no record. we do not have any ideas. what we must do is go chicago style. smear the candidate. say anything. it doesn't matter if it is dishonest, it doesn't matter how awful and ugly it is, be as mean spirited as you can because that's the only way we can win. >> we are running on protecting and standing up for the middle class, making sure they have a fighter in the white house. as we know from a report last week, nonpartisan report, mitt romney's tax plan raises taxes $2,000 on middle class families. that's what people are talking about at kitchen tables at home. >> it is important that substantive issues be discussed. when both campaigns occasionally, whether directly or with super pacs that support them come out with outrageous accusations, in this case i think it is outrageous to accuse mitt romney of being actually responsible for the death of this woman. when we did a fact check, she died several years after he left bain capital and it is tragic

and sad as it is. but your campaign, romney campaign, refused to disassociate itself from outrages accusations against the president of the united states. here is what else is bothering me now. want you both to weigh in. when both candidates, president of the united states and republican presidential candidate get engaged in what seems to be childish name calling, and i'll play some clips. >> he'd ask the middle class to pay more in taxes so i could give another $250,000 tax cut to people making more than $3 million a year. it is like robin hood in reverse. it is romney hood. >> we have been watching the president say a lot of things about me and about my policies, and they're just not right. if i were to coin a term, it would be obamaloney. >> you have to admit, this is kindergarten stuff. >> this is light, wolf. you get out there, say cute

things. he tried to get a little coverage. what he is trying to say to both the president and mitt romney is he is trying to make a quick statement that kind of summarizes what they feel about the other person's tax policy, or statements he made earlier. i think the most important thing is the issues on the table. i can't believe the president of the united states would have a campaign that's so empty of ideas. i mean, tens of millions of dollars spent. >> by ideas, you can disagree with his ideas, he has a lot of ideas. he has a record to run on. you can say it is a crummy record. but he has plenty of ideas. >> why is he spending tens of millions, his pac spending that money on ugly, misleading -- >> this is a super pac that supports him. >> if you have 60, 70, $80 million, you're a pac, the president of the united states is your candidate, can't you come up with something positive, say let me tell you what he has done for america? no. they have only one hope, that's to destroy the opponent, that's

the goal. >> ladies, hold the thought. jen. we are going to continue this conversation. we have a representative from obama campaign, that's you, representative from romney campaign, that's you. we have more to discuss. we'll take a quick break. more of this conversation on the other side. [ ross ] we are in the dades gorge,

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we're back with bay buchanon and jen from the obama campaign.

i want to wrap this up w. a final thought. do you want to say this is a bad ad, you had nothing to do with it, you want to say you know what, it is something that we're not proud of or whatever. whatever you want to say. >> you have seen our ads. happy to speak to the president's agenda because bay had a chance to speak to this. we know romney is going to throw everything but the kitchen sink, maybe the kitchen sink, too. we are talking about the president's ideas and plans. i can't name three things romney would do for the middle class. that's what the race is about, it is not about the superfluous items. >> i want to change the topic. conventions coming up. conventions are huge, can make or break careers. it is a prime time spot to be speaking. new announcements of speakers speaking.

we have some of them. rick santorum, jeb bush, senator rand paul, governor mary fallen. when you look at the speakers, what does it tell you, what should it tell voters? >> we have an incredible number of great leaders in our party, people that are passionate about seeing the country turned around, put back to work. we have people that are economic, fiscal conservatives out there, social conservatives, you have people that have enormous experience in government who are there to fight for their cause. >> some absences so far. >> sarah palin. >> i don't know who is chosen. i am not part of that. >> should they? >> they should choose whomever is best to send that message. but i know what the message is. this is a team not only wants to see america working again, they know how to do it and they will fight for it, in congress, in the senate, in governorships

across the country. >> a lot of romney folks i have spoken to are nervous about sarah palin, michele bachmann alienating undecided voters out there who may be turned off, fire and brim stone kind of speech. >> i would rather have mayor cast crow, bill clinton, vice president biden than worrying about santorum and sarah palin and how it fits in. we all know conventions are opportunity to excite and energize your base, get them going the final two months. we have plans to do that as i am sure the republicans do as well, but they have a much higher hill to climb. there's not enthusiasm for mitt romney. no win is getting romney for president tattoo. >> we don't do tattoos.

i worked the grass roots, and this is a team ready to come together across the country and defeat president obama. >> we will be in tampa and charlotte watching the conventions. you have a tough job. thanks for coming in, jen psaki, and bay buchanon. invited bill burton from the super pac, and also the super pac couldn't come in and you had the guts to come in, we appreciate it. >> thank you. hundreds of thousands of dollars stolen at one of the smithsonian's museums. how they pocketed parking fees. stand by. you know, i have done something worthwhile. when i earned my doctorate through university of phoenix, that pride, that was on my face. i am jocelyn taylor. i'm committed to making a difference in people's lives, and i am a phoenix. visit phoenix.edu to find the program that's right for you.

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here in the washington, d.c. area, new information about a stunning scheme at the smithsonian's national air and space museum annex that sended

with a small fortune being stolen from the parking garage. our lisa sylvester has details. >> reporter: while inventory rifts were flocking to see the shuttle discovery at the smithsonian's institution air and space museum annex museum in virginia, three parking attendants were stealing thousands of dollars in parking fees. how much did they make off with? >> how much did they say? $400,000? good god, that's ridiculous. >> reporter: actually, this was more than $400,000 over a three-year period, according to the smithsonian's office of the inspector general. every vehicle that passes through here is actually counted. the way these people were able to do this is by disabling the electronic vehicle counter, and that allowed them to steal as much as $4,000 in a single day. it cost $15 to park at the air and space museum annex at the dulles airport.

the attendants worked for a private company, pmi, which has a contract with the smithsonian institution. closed-circuit television cameras caught the three workers in action. the news was shocking to museum visitors. >> i think that's really, really sad. it's a wonderful institution. it's sad to hear something like that happened. >> it's really sad people would do that. i hope they get prosecuted to the full extent of the law. >> the smithsonian has been under financial pressure in recent years, confronted with the threat of funding cuts. and $400,000 would go a long way toward bolstering its programs. claire brown is a spokeswoman for the air and space museum. >> well, very upset. of course, we're very upset to have learned about it. >> reporter: has anything like this ever happened before? >> not to my knowledge, has anything like this happened before. >> reporter: each booth attendant faces a maximum of ten years in prison if convicted. lisa sylvester, cnn, chantilly,

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rover. the mountains in the distance you're seeing are actually part of the rim of the huge crater where the rover landed. nasa has also cleaned up a picture of the craters central peak, taller than mt. rainier, if approximate you can believe it. amazing pictures coming out of mars today. from mars to mcdonald's, of course. finally, mitt romney shared a si secret about his father. george romney had a card signed by ray crock en tiling him to free meals at mcdonalds for life. he told a chicago crowd he found the card in his dad's desk, had it laminated and the other romney went almost every day for a burger or fish sandwich. how do you like that? >> very nice. thanks so much. that's it for us. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. "outfront" next. new details emerging tonight about the gunman responsible for killing six people at a wisconsin temple. and a clue to the man's

connection to hate groups. plus, a new attack ad by an obama super pac linking mitt romney to someone's death. does this attack finally go too far? and an "outfront" investigation into the safety of american soldiers. why is an infearer tool to detect ieds still being used right now? let's go yoit front. "outfront." good evening, everyone, i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, the rise of hate in america. the massacre at this sikh temple in oak creek, wisconsin has raised so many questions and tonight we have new details about the shooter, wade michael page. page was living in wisconsin for about a year, and as our ted rowlands found out, in the months and weeks before he killed six people, page was a recluse and making arrangements to carry out his attack. ted is live in oak creek tonight. ted, what have you been learning

tonight about page's past? >> reporter: well, erin, clearly, this is someone who was shutting down, taking himself out of the day-to-day of society, taking himself away from friends and family. we're also learning about his past, going back almost ten years where he was gravitating towards white supremacy. in the days and weeks before the temple shooting, wade page began to withdraw from the world, starting, according to neighbors, by moving out of the upstairs apartment behind this house he shared with his girlfriend and her son. neighbors say he left with a few boxes, but didn't seem upset. >> i never did see a big break-up or anything. i rarely saw him around. >> reporter: two weeks before the shooting, page stopped showing up for his job as a machine operator at this manufacturing facility. then on july 28th, a week before the shooting, he walked into this gun store and bought a 9 millimeter semiautomatic handgun like this one. >> the purchase was done legally.